Tiyul, the end of orientation, and the arrival to Ein Dor

Hello to everyone!

The first full week of Shnat 2009-10 was full of excitement and new experiences for the Shnat Europe group. The group headed down to the northern Negev desert region on Sunday morning for the first tiyul of Shnat. They spent two days trekking through the beautiful and picturesque landscape of the desert, and spent two nights camping, eating and sitting around the bonfire together. It was definitely a great bonding exerecise, both for the group themselves, and for a good connection with the tranquil desert region of Israel.

The group finished their tiyul in the historic site of David Ben-Gurion's grave at Sde Boker early on Tuesday morning, and then headed north to the city of Jaffa, next to Tel-Aviv. They had a few hours to eat, shower, and dress before heading to Ramat Efal, the headquarters of both the kibbutz movement in Israel, and World Habonim Dror. They were all highly anticipated guests at the celebrations of 80 years for Habonim Dror in the UK, and had the privilige of meeting some of the vatikim (veterans) of the movement through all the years, including seeing David Broza live in concert!

On wednesday the group went through a day of peulot and discussions, including the all-important rooms discussion and the decisions on who would room with who on kibbutz, as well as the kuppah discussion, and how they wanted to structure their money together for the year.

After many peulot, discussion, activities, and hiking together, the group finally headed out from Jaffa on Thursday and headed to their home for the next 3 months, kibbutz Ein Dor.

The group arrived at Ein Dor safely yesterday evening and, after a thorough talk about the rules and expectations from the kibbutz and in regards to the Boneh program, were left to set-up their rooms, stick their photos of loved ones on the walls, and start making normal dormitory dwellings become warm and familiar homes.

Today the Shnatties had a well-earned sleep-in and then continued their discussion about kuppah, and had a bit of time to get to know one of the more anticipated attractions of kibbutz Ein Dor - the swimming pool!

The group will be starting Boneh orientation seminar on Sunday morning, but have a chance to unwind and recharge during the weekend for another exciting week of learning, discovering, and unforgettable experiences.

For those of you who wish to send packages or letters to your loved ones on kibbutz, the mail address is:

[Participant's name]
Habonim Dror
Tavor Accomodation
Kibbutz Ein Dor
DN Yizre'el 19355
Israel

I would like to wish you all a shabbat shalom, and a relaxing weekend.

Until next time,

Leon.